Cool Induction Air - from Turbo (performance mod?)

[Nico20V]

Of prospective interest for anyone with turbo silicone hose upgrade and/or induction filter I guess…

Ok so I'm a newbie and a novice but is my reasoning sound on this one? In an earlier thread I queried if for the sake of fitting the silicone hoses, whether or not insulating the 3 rigid sections between the turbo and inlet manifold would be worthwhile. As so many have fitted aftermarket induction kits with isolated compartments to aid in keeping their air cool (me too on past motor) and since it appears Volvo went to the trouble of directing the feed via the intercooler, then surely there must be some merit in trying to keep the rigid metal sections protected from the engine bay heat too?

I had actually changed my mind about fitting the hose kit after ordering it, and was guna sell it on figuring it would be too awkward to fit and I could see anything to suggest the stock ones were any worse for wear despite 11 years of use. I then took a close look at the hoses and realized the shorest 2” section from the turbo was quite deformed to the extent debris and dirt appear to be coming from it in both directions. So now I figure for the sake of replacing the small section I may as well use the whole kit since also realizing that of course you don’t have to fit it one section at a time (undo the jubilee aloft the turbo and the one beneath the intercooler as well as the restraint bracket, and the whole thing can be replaced with ease)

Besides the silicone being airtight whilst the stock rubber hoses may degrade over time and have invisible hairline cracks, they will also give significant insulation but this gain is then pretty negated by the metal sections as they will conduct the heat v.effectively. Does it not make sense therefore if you've gone to all the trouble of isolated air filter feeds and thick silicone hoses, to do something about the metal sections?

For the cost of and trouble to fit the silicone, I’m prob guna also order some 2” Thermo-sleeve to shield each of the rigid sections. The aluminized hose sleeve is supposed to reflect 90%+ of radiant heat, is oil resistant and fireproof. As I have plenty of aluminium heat paint spray left I will also give the metal sections a good coat to aid in the process. Thing is the sleeve comes in 3' lengths at £30 a piece and I figure I need 4ft. If anyone else might be interested in this and wishes to split the cost (£45 ea in effect) then I will order and post on. Of course if you think I’m nuts and its a complete waste of money, feel free to comment also :crazy:

[Saaamon]

Sounds like you have a good idea with the thermo warp but in fairness most people use exhaust heat warp on said components.

[claymore]

If i read this right, you want to insulate the boost pipes, so keep the heat in, which is the complete opposit of what you actually want. the idea is to get as cold a charge going into the engine. not hot. Or am I missing something here?

[cornclose]

Water injection is your answer.

[claymore]

Water injection is your answer.

or nitrous :)

[Saaamon]

If i read this right, you want to insulate the boost pipes, so keep the heat in, which is the complete opposit of what you actually want. the idea is to get as cold a charge going into the engine. not hot. Or am I missing something here?

He's on about heatsoak.. By wrapping the 3 hard pipes it stops the heat getting in, in the first place.

[AndysR]

The pipes on mine are wrapped with exhaust heatwrap and then painted black with heat proof paint. I did it for look rather than performance and tbh have noticed no difference to vehicle performance as a result ;)

[Nico20V]

mmm. have been reading wilkipedia on workings of a turbo and I've not perhaps allowed for just how hot the compressed air must get once it leaves the turbo. I would have expected it could perhaps benefit from being insulated from the engine bay but withot being able to compare typiocal working engine bay temp and forced air temp, I think i'll definitely shelv this idea for now, unless someone has some figures?

[p fandango]

mmm. have been reading wilkipedia on workings of a turbo and I've not perhaps allowed for just how hot the compressed air must get once it leaves the turbo. I would have expected it could perhaps benefit from being insulated from the engine bay but withot being able to compare typiocal working engine bay temp and forced air temp, I think i'll definitely shelv this idea for now, unless someone has some figures?
i've got a couple of temp gauges to monitor the air temperature at the filter, & the other at the throttle body but there not fitted yet (& may be some time)

[claymore]

I think a lot of the engine bay temp is created by the boost pipes, so all lagging them would do is create more heat for the intercooler to try and cool. and perhaps a slight decrease in engine bay temp, it would be worth lagging the pipe from the ic to the tb though.

[Nico20V]

Surely not. The majority would come from block and exhaust manifold.

Be interesting so see what the temps come out at when you get chance fandango.

[p fandango]

I think a lot of the engine bay temp is created by the boost pipes, so all lagging them would do is create more heat for the intercooler to try and cool. and perhaps a slight decrease in engine bay temp, it would be worth lagging the pipe from the ic to the tb though.
if that was right then the engine bay on non-turbo cars would be quite cold or atleast close to ambient temp

[cornclose]

I started thinking about these things (insulating pipework etc) some while ago but quickly realised that it would be largly fruitless.

I've monitored Intake Air Temperatures on my Phase 2 T5 via OBDII (the diagnostic port). I have a RICA 310 on mine, and with ambient temperatures of about 20 deg.C you can easily see IAT's at 50-60 deg.C under moderate boost (around 10-12 psi). Once you start to get to ambients of 25 deg.C or higher, you can easily hit 65 deg.C under the same 10-12 psi boost conditions.

The highest I ever saw was 81 deg.C at near full boost with ambients of 28 deg.C this summer. Power drop off was very noticable, it was like driving through treacle. It was shortly after this when I'd done some research on water injection systems that I decided to fit such a system. I went for the Aquamist System 1S.

I'm now running a 50/50 (by volume) mixture of water/methanol and the highest I've seen my IAT under any conditions is 32 deg.C. It has made a startling improvement under high boost and/or high ambient conditions. No more power drop off due to ignition timing. I don't think insulating any pipework or ducting is likely to get you anywhere near these levels of temperature reduction, not when you consider how much air is flowing through the intake under load/boost conditions.

I read somewhere (perhaps on the other forum, from someone at MTE I think...) that after 65 deg.C the ME7 cars will start to back off on throttle input, with timing retard occuring way before that.

[Nico20V]

mmmm...very interesting. It's not something i'd been keen to consider on grounds of cost, but that is a significant drop temp. As a started can you give us a quick breakdown on the costs of the S1 system for kit + install??

[cornclose]

mmmm...very interesting. It's not something i'd been keen to consider on grounds of cost, but that is a significant drop temp. As a started can you give us a quick breakdown on the costs of the S1 system for kit + install??

£295 for the kit, and it took me 3-4 hours to fit (properly).

There are some kits which are less money. "Devils Own" is one that springs to mind.